The emerging resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics that find use in medicinal application poses a serious health challenge. The identification of antibiotic resistant microbes such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), fluoroquinolone resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Clostridium difficile, and multi-drug resistant Salmonella spp. represent a few notable examples of this emerging problem. The rate of discovery and approval of new antimicrobial agents does not match the rate at which antibiotics in use tend to lose efficacy. This discrepancy makes it urgent to search for new potent and safe antimicrobial agents. Environment remains an important reservoir for microbial strains capable of producing potent antimicrobials. Advances in sensitivity testing, material separation, and chemical structure elucidation facilitate the discovery of novel antimicrobials from natural sources.
There has been an increase in the amount of research relating to Paenibacillus as a potential source of new antimicrobials. These spore-forming species are widely distributed in the environment. Strains of Paenibacillus produce diverse antimicrobial agents including lantibiotics, lipopeptides, and macrolides. Lipopeptides are non-ribosomally synthesized compounds which are active against a wide range of bacteria, fungi, and oomycetes. In addition, lipopeptides can act as antiviral and antitumor agents, immunomodulators or specific toxins and enzyme inhibitors.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to identify and develop antimicrobial agents that are effective against a broad spectrum of microbial pathogens such as Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as methods, vectors, and cells for synthesizing such antimicrobial agents.